Feeding spoon



P 1952 M. L. WEYNDLING 2,610,400

' I FEEDING spoon Filed June 5, 1950 ATTORNEY INVENTOR. MILDRED L.WENDUNG Patented Sept. 16, 1952 FEEDING SPOON Mildred L. Wendling,Portland, Oreg. Application June 5, 1950, Serial No. 166,103

My invention relates to spoons and more particularly to a spoon forfeeding babies.

The feeding of babies, .before they learn to feed themselves, is ratherdifficult because none of the prior art implements are specificallyadapted for that purpose. Necessarily, because of the small size of theinfants mouth, a spoon having a small bowl must be employed but, becausethe babys lips tend to push the food back on the spoon bowl, there isconsiderable spillage. Moreover, the baby has difliculty in removing thefood from a normal dished bowl, and the spoon is not very efficient inscraping surplus from the babys mouth because of the convex periphery ofthe bowl.

Having in mind the foregoing defects, it is the primary object of myinvention to provide a spoon that is particularly adapted for use by anattendant in feeding an infant.

Another object of the invention is to provide a spoon that is adapted tofit the mouth and chin of an infant to facilitate feeding and also toenable storage and removal of surplus food that may cling to the chin orlips of the infant.

A further object is to provide a baby feeding spoon for adult use thatembodies simplicity of design, economy of construction and efilciency inoperation.

The foregoing objects and others ancillary thereto, are preferablyaccomplished, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, by aspoon having a perfectly fiat bowl or spoon portion and. a handle of asize that is adapted for adult use. The so-called bowl or spoon portionhas a rounded reduced front-portion, for fitting in the infants mouth,which extends from an enlarged base portion for catching and storingsurplus food. These two portions are connected on each side of the bowlby concave edges which are curved to conform to the shape of the mouth,lips and chin 'of the infant, so that surplus food, that usually clingsto the lips and chin of the infant, can be easily removed by the spoonportion.

The novel features that are considered characteristic of the inventionare set forth with particularity in the appended claim. The inventionitself, however, both as to its organization and 1 Claim. (01. 30-324)its method of operation, together with additional I objects andadvantages thereof, will best be understood from the followingdescription of a specific embodiment when read in connection with theaccompanying drawing, wherein like reference characters indicate likeparts throughout the several figures and in which:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a feeding p or lips of the infant.

spoon according to the present invention, the spoon being shown in usefor scraping surplus food from the lips and chin of the infant;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the spoon;

Figure 3 is a side view in elevation of the spoon,

particularly the flat spoon portion; and

Figure 4 is a front end view of the spoon. Referring now to the drawing,a spoon, according to the present invention, comprises a fiat spoonportion I, having a suitable handle 2 forming part thereof and beingconnected to the spoon portion by an angular joint 3 which positions Thespoon, as a whole, is only slightly smalleror substantially the samesize of a standard teaspoon, the handle 2 being about the size of ateaspoon handle, but possibly a little shorter, to enable easy adulthandling. The spoon portion I is about the size of a teaspoon bowl withthe front portion 6 being smaller and rounder than the usual teaspoonbowl to be easily inserted in an infants mouth without excessivepenetration or interference with the tongue, while the rear portion 5may be slightly broader than the usual teaspoon bowl to receive andretain excess food that may be pushed back by the infants lips andtongue.

The concave edges 4 adapt the spoon portion 1 to fit-against the lipsand chin of the infant being fed, as illustrated in Figure 1, readilyremoving food particles, as indicated at F from the chin Due to the factthat the spoon portion l is fiat, the infant has the least possibletrouble removing the food therefrom while being fed. Thus the presentinvention provides an efficient implement for use by adults in feedingbabies.

Although certain specific embodiments of the invention have been shownand described, it is obvious that many modifications thereof arepossible. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except in sofar as is necessitated by the prior art and by the spirit of theappended claim. a

What I claim is:

A baby feedin'g spoon for use by adults, com- 2,610,400 3 4 prising aspoon substantially the size of a stand- REFERENCES CITED ard teaspoonand having a flat spoon portion The following references are of recordin the including a rounded front end portion of a an fil of this patent:for easy insertion in a babys mouth, and. a relatively larger rear endportion with concave side 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS edges substantiallytangentially of said front end Number Name Date portions and blendinginto said rear end portion D. 20,541 Durgin Mar. 3, 1891 for fittingaround the babys lips and chin and D. 53,548 Wilson July 8, 1919scraping food therefrom, and a handle extend- D. 93,644 Adler Qct. 23,1934 ing fromy the rear end portion and at an angle 10 I to the plane ofsaid spoon portion and being of a size for use by adults.

MILDRED L. WENDLING.

